VOL. 23, NO. 17	MARCH 6, 1998

olumbia’s School of Public Health has implemented a curriculum-based pregnancy prevention program focusing on abstinence for 6th graders at IS 143, a junior high school in Washington Heights where more than 10 percent of the 7th- and 8th-graders said they were recently sexually active.

  The program, funded by a 15-month grant from the New York State Department of Health, reflects a national effort to encourage teenagers to postpone sexual activity as a way to safeguard against unwanted pregnancies, STDs and psycho-social difficulties.

  “The majority of six graders are not sexually active, but this changes dramatically by eighth grade,” said Lorraine Tiezzi, director of Columbia’s Community Health and Education Program (CHEP), which designed and now manages the program. “Sixth grade is a critical time to reach young people with a curriculum that stresses normal psychosexual development and human sexuality.”

  The pregnancy prevention curriculum comprises five to eight classroom sessions and covers issues of anatomy, puberty, decision making, values clarification and peer-pressure. The curriculum combines interactive and skills-based coursework with video presentations, role-playing, games and group discussions.

  For students identified as being at high risk of becoming sexually active, there are 12 to 15 in-depth group sessions at the school-based clinic.

  CHEP chose IS 143 for the new curriculum because the school has the highest number of sexually active students among CHEP’s four junior high school health clinics. The average age of the sexually active there is 12.8 years old. IS 143 had six pregnancies last school year. Yet 66 percent of sexually active females at the school didn’t want to continue sex, according to 1995–1996 data.

  Delaying the onset of sexual activity among youths has always been a goal for CHEP, according to James McCarthy, director of the Center for Population and Family Health, the Columbia division that houses CHEP.

  McCarthy said that another CHEP pregnancy prevention program, called “In Your Face,” reduced the pregnancy rate for very young adolescents by one-third and also encouraged one-fifth of sexually active students to practice abstinence.

  The new pregnancy prevention program reaches out into the community in several ways. CHEP has teamed up with “280 Dreamers,” a local sports organization, to provide two new activities: track & field and aerobics.

  Mothers and their daughters in the pregnancy prevention program can even practice aerobics together.

  “The addition of a sports-activity component to the pregnancy prevention program has the potential, particularly among girls, to enhance their sense of competence and control,” said Judy Lipshutz, CHEP’s health education coordinator who oversees the new program.

  “Aside from the physical benefits of building bone mass and reducing the likelihood of becoming overweight or sick, physical sports can build confidence, self-esteem and a positive body image.”

  Along with sports, the program will reach the community through a media campaign. Students will work with the Children’s Arts and Science Workshops, a local arts organization, to develop public service announcements and posters that address abstinence and reflect sexuality issues from the point of view of teenagers and pre-teens.

  In taking advantage of CHEP’s extensive network of clinics and educational activities, the abstinence program also reaches adult parents of teenagers with classes in human sexuality and puberty through an extension of the CHEP’s Adult Parent Education Program. Likewise, young peer educators from CHEP’s HIV Prevention Program at George Washington High School serve as assistant coaches for sports activities.

  As with all Center service-based activities, the new abstinence program will be subjected to thorough evaluation.

  A confidential survey will analyze the program’s impact on shifting risk behavior. The students themselves will be followed across time for at least two years, compared to the control group of the other three junior high schools.